Devil's Due
by Moon0Royalty
Summary: "I promise I will have you ruined." Heathcliff smiles, cold and savage and sadistic. "And you'll remember, Master Linton," his voice drops mockingly on the name, "The devil always collects his dues."
1. Chapter 1

The fan fiction takes place a few days after Catherine Linton's funeral , and combines two aspects of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff's obsessive love for Catherine and his vengeance on those he perceives as having wronged him. This scene is a brief and tense confrontation between Linton and Heathcliff that quickly escalates. After Catherine's death, Heathcliff desperately attempts to cling to any reminder of her, such as her newborn child. He wants the child to carry his name as Catherine Heathcliff, what he wished the elder Catherine could have been. Edgar Linton is a target for Heathcliff's revenge, as he believes that Linton took Catherine, and in return Heathcliff promises to take everything that Edgar has-his daughter, and his property.

* * *

Linton swirls his tumbler, idly watching the amber liquid threaten to slosh over the rim as snow dances into a flurry behind curtained windows, and the candle flickers, burning ever lower. He is lost in his quiet anguish, the loss still raw and the sorrow settles, cold and oppressive on his heart.

He remembers sunshine-filled hours out on the rambling moors, afternoons with tea and chatter, Catherine's fierce temper, her pale and waxen face, and-oh god-the coffin lowered in the earth and the last handful of dirt and-

"Master Linton, there's a man at the door wishing to speak with you," the maid, the new, fresh faced girl from Gimmerton, interrupts, "and he says he regrets that you did not see him at the funeral."

Linton downs his glass, wondering if he is presentable for company-he is missing his cravat and waistcoat-but the visitor is undoubtedly Mr. Earnshaw, and though the man may be a fool and a drunkard, Linton cannot turn away his wife's brother.

"Send him up," he says, "through the back door, mind you; seeing as Nelly's converted the parlour into a nursery,"

The maid leaves, and soon Linton hears the heavy sound of stomping boots echo down the passage. The door swings open. He glances up, starts, colour draining from his face, and he springs from his chair, enraged.

"You!" he sputters.

"Sit down," Heathcliff commands, dusting the snow from his shoulder, "I'll not harm you, and you surely will not be so uncivil as to drive me out in such abominable weather,"

"You think too highly of my patience," Linton grits out.

"No, I do not think highly of you at all, but you have tolerated my presence well enough before, to keep her pleased, and I ask, in memory of her, to tolerate my presence now."

Linton wavers, hesitant, but eventually acquiesces. Heathcliff shuts the door and seats himself, reclining against the plush chair, looking for all the world as if he is the master of the house, and the one he is regarding with cold disdain is the true intruder.

Linton purses his lips, "You must excuse me if I do not believe that you have come on goodwill to inquire after the wellbeing of my family."

"I wish to see Catherine."

"My wife is already buried."

"The child, the child!" snaps Heathcliff, impatience growing.

"No," responds Linton, flatly, "That is impossible."

"What! Have I no right as an uncle, the husband of her father's sister-"

"I have no sister," Linton replies, face white, voice strained, "She has abandoned us for a fiend,"

"Do not demonise me," Heathcliff rebukes, harsh, "I am no more a demon than Catherine was a saint."

"Then you are the devil himself, for Catherine was the sweetest of angels!" Linton cries.

Heathcliff ignores him, and spares a glance at the empty tumbler, lip curling; "Are you numbing the pain of bereavement? Well, your grief is wasted, she certainly values none of YOUR tears."

"And yet she married me."

"Marriages are hardly based on love. Surely, my wedding Isabella was proof enough of that,"

"How dare you imply-"

"Oh, imply?" Heathcliff sneers, "I assure you, I had no intention of being so subtle. Love begets love; and she always enjoy being flattered."

Linton's fingers curl around the arms of the chair, knuckles white, as he attempts to compose himself."If you have only come to insult me within my own home, I'd rather you take your leave."

"I wish to see the child." Heathcliff repeats, forceful.

"She is not your Cathy," Linton hisses, "You will realise this, and you will grow to despise her bitterly,"

"You are so certain she is not mine?" Heathcliff spreads his arms, smirking; the implication hanging in the air.

There is a pause, and something inside Linton snaps like a bowstring pulled too taunt; the tumbler shatters behind the study wall behind Heathcliff, a shower of tinkling, broken glass. Linton's hands are fisted; he is red, fair face twisted into a scowl.

"How can you be so cruel as to mock me and her memory when she is not yet cold in her grave?" he snarls, loathing evident in his voice.

Heathcliff raises an eyebrow, amused; he leans forward, hands splayed in the desk. "Despise me all you will, but I will take your hatred, and then I will take everything you love. I promise I will have you ruined." he smiles, cold and savage and sadistic. "And you'll remember, Master Linton," his voice drops mockingly on the name, "The devil always collects his dues."

* * *

This was written for English class. Not much to say.


	2. Omake

No relation to previous chapter.

* * *

"Look at me," Heathcliff demands, voice hoarse and rasping, like crushed and grinding metal, "Look at me."

Cathy meets his gaze unwaveringly, nearly defiant.

"You have your mother's eyes," he whispers, tone now nostalgic, almost affectionate.

"Did you love her? Do you still, after all this time?"

"Always,"

* * *

I just wanted to outline the parallelism between Snape and Heathcliff. Sucky childhoods, both dark and obsessive, meets this one girl who understands him (but marries some other guy and has a kid with the same eyes), and then dies tragically. It's interesting to see how differently they turned out.


End file.
